Slightly larger than a fingernail and with hooked legs for mating, meet Hong Kong’s first native tree-climbing crab
Species discovered in mangroves of Ting Kok may have evolved to live on higher ground because of a lack of oxygen in warmer waters or to escape predators
Marine ecologists have discovered the first tree-climbing crab native to Hong Kong.
The Haberma tingkok, slightly larger than a fingernail, was spotted last summer crawling on the branches of mangroves in Ting Kok, a coastal area facing Tolo Harbour in the New Territories.
While there are 15 to 20 other species of crabs worldwide that can climb trees, the Haberma tingkok is more closely related to two other species that share the unusual characteristic of hooked legs in the male – used to grasp the female while mating. These are found in the mangroves of Singapore and Indonesia and are not known to climb trees, preferring to live in mud.
“[This crab is] only known to be from Tolo Harbour for now. There’s no other part of the world where it is found. What’s important is it means that Hong Kong mangroves are alive. There are lots of things to search for and lots of biodiversity there,” Dr Stefano Cannicci, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Swire Institute of Marine Sciences, said.
The tiny, dark brown, crustacean is only the second mangrove species that is native to the city.
